With horses shipping in from all over the country and having run
some of their best races on all types of surfaces, the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster
(gr. I) is a wide-open affair. A field of 11 was drawn for
the nine-furlong Polytrack event Oct. 10 at Keeneland, with the winner
receiving an automatic bid in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I)
next month.
Likely to vie for favoritism are grade I winners Hot Cha Cha and Funny Moon, Rinterval, who lost by a neck to Zenyatta last out, Tizaqueena, and the only 3-year-old in the race, It's Tea Time. But a case can be made for almost every filly or mare in the field.
Nelson McMakin’s homebred Hot Cha
Cha scored her biggest career win at Keeneland but it came on the turf
course, as she romped in last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
Stakes (gr. IT) at 8-1. The 4-year-old daughter of Cactus Ridge
also has two other graded scores on the turf, but she has
proved herself on Polytrack too. In March 2009, she won the Bourbonette
Oaks (gr. III) at Turfway Park.
Hot Cha Cha, who has produced a 6-3-4 record from 17 starts, will be ridden by James Graham for trainer Philip Sims.
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